Law was absent for the next three days of school. When he finally reappeared, Nojiko timidly inquired about his health, only to have her question brushed off and ignored. Being a remarkably introspective child, she guessed that this behavior stemmed from something besides pure rudeness. She also guessed–correctly–that Law had not told his dad about their beach picnic invitation. So, when Rocinante arrived to pick up Law from the school, she approached and asked him personally, bringing her younger sister with her for support.
"So, do you think you could come?" she pleaded, cocking her head slightly to the left and smiling coyly–a trick she'd learned from her mother.
"Please?" added Nami. The man quirked his mouth to the side in a funny grin.
"Oh, sure." he replied. "It'd be a nice change from staying inside all day."
"Good! Law said you were busy last week, so I just wanted to make sure you could come this time."
"He said that, did he?" Rocinante glanced at Law pointedly; the boy pretended not to notice, suddenly preoccupied with buckling his helmet strap. "Well, in any case, we'll look forward to it."
—
Bellemere's cherry-red ponytail swung back and forth at the nape of her neck as she jogged down the trail leading towards the beach. Picnic basket in one hand and a blanket in the other, she peered down the path; Nami and Nojiko had disappeared from sight seconds earlier, but she could hear their gleeful laughter several yards ahead.
"Girls, hang on–oh, never mind." she muttered. This picnic had been the foremost thing on their minds for the last several days; they never talked about anything else, and would've probably exploded from excitement if the wait had been any longer. Who was she to rain on their parade?
Once on the main shoreline, she paused to brush sand out of her sandals, scanning the shoreline for their expected guests. Her girls were already playing in the water, having left their shoes and socks behind for their mother to pick up. Bending over to gather the strewn items, Bellemere placed them in the basket and straightened up, squinting into the sun.
"Hey, Bellemere."
She whirled around, not having heard anyone approach. "Oh, hi, Rocinante!" She laughed, brushing scarlet strands away from her face. "Gosh, you're so quiet. I didn't hear you coming."
The blonde chuckled. "Well, at least I didn't knock you over this time."
"I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Hey, Law."
The boy was wearing a hoodie and long pants, even on this sunny afternoon; his hands were buried deep in his pockets. He nodded in response to Bellemere's greeting and gave a murmured 'hello', seeming much more interested in watching Nami and Nojiko play on the beach. Noticing their arrival, the two girls dashed up the sands, shouting as they ran:
"Law! You came! C'mon, we can find sand dollars!"
"Lemme teach you how to dig for sand crabs!"
"I'm going to build a castle and it'll be the biggest ever!"
Before he even realized what was happening, Law had been caught arm-in-arm by the two enthusiastic girls and dragged away to the water's edge. To Bellemere's surprise, he actually joined Nami and Nojiko in their games; she wondered if he'd ever had a sibling before.
"It seems they're getting along." Rocinante observed, brows lifting in pleasant surprise.
"Yeah. I've been meaning to ask you–" She set down the basket and began shaking out the blanket, spreading it out over the sands. "Is Law alright? He always seems really exhausted and pale."
Roci chewed his lip momentarily. "Yes, he is sick." he confessed, at last. "It's better than it was, and he's still improving, but…" There was an unusual, pensive gleam in his eyes. "The kid's been through a lot. He still has nightmares, can't sleep, sometimes won't even eat."
There was a heavy silence as Bellemere placed the basket and her daughters' shoes on the picnic blanket, wondering how to respond; Roci studied the trio of children, arms folded across his chest.
"He's lucky to have someone like you." she replied, quietly. He glanced at her, brows knitted as though he considered the compliment inaccurate.
Seeking a more private opportunity for conversation, Bellemere stood up and pointed to the shoreline. "You wanna walk?"
—
The sand was warm and wet, and tickled between his toes. The couple walked with their backs towards the children, into the noonday sun. Neither of them spoke, but being a naturally quiet person, Rocinante wasn't bothered; he merely enjoyed Bellemere's presence. The longer he looked at her, the more he began to notice little details about the young woman–the laugh lines that formed around her eyes and mouth when she smiled, the deep tan that faded abruptly when it reached her shoulders, the blue of her irises that reflected the sea. When she noticed his stare, he jerked his head down awkwardly and said,
"So, this Arlong guy…he really has it in for you, doesn't he?"
Her expression twitched, jaw hardening, and Rocinante was about to retract his question when she responded.
"Arlong's trying to buy out the town. Not just through extortion, though that is a large part of it. What he really wants is ownership of the land, itself, and that means people's property, houses. I'm the only one who hasn't sold."
He kicked at the sand, watching it spray into the air. "Why haven't you?"
"Because it's mine." She said this as though it were obvious.
"That's a pretty good reason." he admitted. "Anything else?"
"If I give in, Arlong wins. I can't let that happen." Bellemere gave a slight sigh. "Even if I'm the only one who thinks so."
"Do you ever worry?"
"About what?"
"Nami and Nojiko. That they might get caught in the crossfire."
"All the time." Her voice was soft. Then, she cocked her head and squinted at him, a playful gleam in her eye. "What about yourself? What made you decide to move to this dinky little island?"
"Solitude, maybe some peace and quiet." The choice had been more in Law's interests than his own, but now the obvious irony of the situation made him grin. "Though I doubt I came to the right place."
"No, I don't think so." She stopped dead in her tracks; he stumbled, knocking into her shoulder and collapsing on his hands and knees. Her laughter rang merrily in his ears as he staggered to his feet, brushing sand off his palms.
T-shirt knotted above her waist and shorts rolled to her knees, Bellemere skipped into the shallows, splashing water at every step. She wiggled her fingers at him in a 'come here' gesture.
His eyes widened, and he licked his lips nervously. "I, ah…I can't. Swim, that is."
She placed her hands on her hips, eyebrows lifting skeptically. "It's six inches of water, Rocinante. You won't drown in six inches of water."
"You'd be surprised." he muttered to himself.
"C'mon, don't be a pansy. I'll hold your hand if you want." She grinned at him wickedly.
"No, really, I can't–"
Bellemere rushed forward, grabbed both of his wrists and dragged him several feet out. Somehow, he tripped and landed face first in the frothy surf; Bellemere splashed down next to him, pulled down by the sudden weight. When he pulled his head up from the water, he could hear her giggling, completely soaked.
The rest of his body refused to respond. His limbs were overcooked pasta, flaccid and numb. Nausea swirled in his gut, and he knew he had to get out of the water, now, or he wouldn't be able to move again. He forced himself into an agonized crawl, head spinning, vision bleeding away. Reaching the shore, he retched painfully on the sand; the acid burned in his throat. Then, drained, he crumpled to the ground, water lapping at his ankles.
—
Unlike his surrogate father, Law knew better than to get near the ocean at all. Catching sand crabs and collecting sand dollars didn't require much more than damp feet and wet cuffs. Despite the grit itching his elbows and wrists, he didn't roll up his sleeves.
They'd dug a large pit some ways above the tideline as a home for their ocean paraphernalia, and ran back and forth dumping their catches in it. Nojiko would pause every now and then to count their collections, happily shouting out the totals. Nami seemed determined to use the pockets of Law's hoodie as a home for 'Fred', a sand crab wider than the girl's palm.
When these enterprises exhausted themselves, the girls decided to dare each other to see how far out they could wade. They cajoled Law to join them, but he declined.
"I can't swim, and salt water makes me sick."
"Aww…" Nami's lower lip protruded further out than her nose. Her hands were cupped; Fred the sand crab squirmed within her grasp, desperate to escape.
"Let's play something else, then." Nojiko suggested, wanting to prevent a quarrel.
Nami's expression brightened. "Pirates n' Marines!" she begged. "Can I be the pirate? Please?"
"You got to be the pirate last time! Besides, they're the bad guys."
"I like getting chased!"
Nojiko huffed. "Okay, fine." Then, a mischievous grin tugged at her mouth; she formed her hand into a 'finger gun', and dashed after her sister, shouting "Bang! I got you, Nami!"
"No you didn't, no you didn't!" The younger squealed, ducking. She wheeled around and came hurtling towards Law. "Look out! You and I are pirates and we gotta run away from Nojiko before she shoots us."
Nojiko fired her weapon several times and made gun noises through her teeth, while Nami mimicked holding a sword and swiped at the air furiously. This carried on for several moments before the girls noticed that Law was leaving.
"Hey, Law, where're you going?"
"I'm not playing." He flung the words over his shoulder.
"Why not?" Nami jogged to catch up with him, and tugged on his hood.
"Because it's a stupid game!" With a vicious jerk, he shoved Nami off his arm; she sat down hard in the sand, stunned betrayal scrawled across her face.
Nojiko pulled her sister to her feet.
"What'd I do?" The flame-haired child wanted to know. Nojiko shook her head, watching as the boy stalked up the beach, shoulders hunched.
"I have no idea."
—
Bellemere could have kicked herself in the teeth–and then afterward, she would have kicked Rocinante if he hadn't been prostrate on the sand, heaving for air. "Why didn't you tell me you were a Devil Fruit user?" she demanded, standing over him.
"I…tried to." he protested weakly, between gasps. Each breath seemed to be a struggle.
She pulled at her hair until it hurt. "I can't believe I was so stupid."
"I'm fine." Rocinante insisted. He coughed and sat up, wiping his mouth with one sleeve. She offered him a hand and pulled him to his feet, where he stood, dripping.
"Hey–" He took a step forward, eyes focused on something behind her.
She turned just in time to see Nami flop to the ground, Law shout something unintelligible, and Nojiko run up to her sister as the boy trudged away.
"Hang on a minute." she cautioned, placing a hand on the man's shoulder as he tried to advance. "Let's see if they can work it out themselves."
The distant scene played out like a film; Law seated himself on a rock outcropping, hugging his knees to his chest and gazing out towards the ocean. Nami and Nojiko seemed to be in deep conversation for several minutes, before slogging up the beach, hand in hand. When they reached the boy, there was a short, inaudible exchange of words; Law slid off his perch, they shook hands, and then they headed back down to the shoreline, all hurts seemingly resolved. Rocinante let out a low whistle.
"Wow. I never thought…" He didn't finish, and just shook his head.
Smoothly, she looped her arm in his (it was a bit of a reach, but she managed), smiling when he jumped at her touch,
"Let's go get some lunch, huh?"
—
"You know," Rocinante began, swallowing a mouthful of sandwich, "I might be able to help you with your problem."
Bellemere cocked an eyebrow. "How?"
"I'm a lawyer." he explained. "Shouldn't be too hard to find proof that Arlong's illegally pushing people out of their homes." He sounded more confident than he felt.
She gave a sad smile, burying her feet in the damp, cool sand. "Well, that sounds nice, but I can barely afford to feed my children, much less hire a lawyer."
"We're quite a pair. You have no money, and I have no clients."
"And besides–" Bellemere lowered her voice. "Even if I could hire you, you'd be working alone against everyone else with authority in this town. As far as I know, there's only one cop who hasn't been bought out by Arlong. The court consists of maybe ten people, and they're all too scared to actually do anything. Can you stop someone with that much power?"
Roci's brow knitted. "It's…unlikely."
"Impossible." Bellemere corrected. She huffed a small sigh and laid back down onto the blanket, closing her eyes against the glare of the sun. "I'm sorry for being so pessimistic. I've been stuck in this fight for a long time. And I–" she paused, biting her lip. "I just want to keep my kids safe. That's all."
Roci nodded wordlessly.
